For better or for worse
by bloodbaby1
Summary: Payne's feeling nervous about marrying Roman and she's beginning to think their relationship is moving too fast. But Rachel and Dean are becoming closer than ever. Now Payne and Roman have to try to fix their relationship and Dean and Rachel have to figure out how to stay out of it. Will Payne end up walking down the isle or will she do the unthinkable and walk out on Roman?
1. Ch1: Payne's secret

**Okay so you'd probably have to read my other fan fiction "For business or for Pleasure" to understand the characters and how they got to this point. For those of you that already have read that I hope you enjoy this spin off.**

Payne woke up in the morning early to avoid having to talk to Roman. She had been doing that a lot lately since he proposed to her and Roman picked up on it quickly. He at first thought it was cold feet and that she was just nervous but after the first week turned into a month he started to become worried. Roman woke up again to an empty bed and Payton was gone probably with Rachel or his mother. He called Dean and Seth to come meet him at the gym for a quick morning workout. He drove over to the gym meeting up with Dean only because Seth had something he had to do. They ended up doing bench presses, pushups, a few rounds of boxing each other and finally left the gym to get a drink. Dean started talking about him and Rachel; they had been dating for a month now and Roman was beginning to wonder if he acted like his love sick friend when he and Payne first hooked up.

"Rachel is great she really loves helping people; she's a sweetheart." Dean said

"I'm already starting to think Rachel is too nice for you." Roman said joking

"You know, that's not nice… But it's probably true." Dean said chuckling as he took a sip of his beer.

~XxX~

Payne hadn't even realized it but she was literally right across from Roman and Dean. She didn't know why she felt so strange around Roman lately. She figured it was pre-wedding jitters but it wasn't just fear from becoming a wife it was her recent nightmares. She used to have them during her first trimester; it was the fear that she might lose her child before getting to know it that terrorized her night after night. Now the nightmares were about losing both Payton and Roman; she didn't know how to be a wife and she was still trying to figure out how to be a mother. Everything was moving too fast for her, that's the excuse she gave Rachel when they went shopping with Payton that morning. Rachel promised she'd stay by her side to help her take care of Payton but Payne didn't just need to know what wipes and diapers to use she needed to know how to raise him. She was terrified that she was going to do something wrong to screw up Payton and she couldn't handle the thought of it. Cody found her sitting in a booth all by herself and noticed that she looked spaced out so he decided to see what was wrong with her. He walked up with a beer in his hand and said,

"Aren't you having a good time?"

Payne looked up at him at first thinking he was a guy hitting on her then quickly realized who he was. She gave him a quick smile and picked up her beer and said,

"Why would even have to ask that?"

"Well…" he started out taking a seat in front of Payne.

"For starters you're on your third beer and even I know that you're not a drinker and you're a party kind of girl, the only reason I know that you'd go to a club or a bar is to have fun and dance to some music not sit down and drink yourself sick." He finished.

Payne rolled her eyes with a little smile and put a hand on her head and said,

"Yeah well right now I'm too drunk to even think about standing up."

Cody chuckled and she said,

"No I'm serious, right now you have like three heads and I'm not quite sure which one I'm talking to."

Cody shook his head and said,

"Well what made you drink in the first place? The most I've ever seen you drink is two glasses of red wine."

Payne sighed and looked at Cody with squinted eyes so that she could refocus on his face.

"I'm just a little stressed."

"What about, getting married? This early?"

"It's not about the wedding plans it's about getting married. Since I was liberated from my parents I've never had to depend on anyone. Even when I was under my parents' roof, I only had to depend on myself."

"And now that you're getting married it's no longer just you." Cody said gathering the pieces together.

"Right, I just don't know if I'm ready for 'we' right now. We just had a baby and I just came back to work I already don't know if I can be a mother how the hell am I supposed to balance that out with being a wife and a wrestler. I'm not giving up my career I love it too much." Payne said.

Cody nodded his head, he completely understood what she was talking about it was a problem that he and Naomi were discussing at the moment. She was talking about staying in wrestling for at least another two years before she retired because she was ready to have a family but she loved her job a lot and didn't know if she wanted to leave it yet. Especially since her and Cody were just getting started in their relationship, she wanted to make sure whatever was between them was worth keeping. Cody didn't plan on giving up wrestling any time soon and that's what was sparking problems between them.

"Well Payne, trust me there's going to be a time where you're going to have to choose between your job and your family and even if you want to choose your job you're going to have to choose your family, or at least your son. You may not have to do it now but let me ask you something." He said.

Payne looked up at him to let him know that she was listening to him,

"As your friend I'm asking you right now what's more important to you: your job or your family? Whether you marry Roman or not he's still connected to you through Payton so he is family."

Payne looked at him realizing that he was right but never answered the question. He looked at her waiting a little for her to answer but after a minute he realized she wasn't going to answer it. He stood up and held out his hand to her. Payne looked up at him confused so he asked her to dance.

"You do know I'm drunk right?" she said.

"Yeah well so am I, the paparazzi will get a kick out of watching us fall over ourselves." Cody said laughing.

Payne laughed at him and said,

"Just remember, it was your idea not mine and only one dance."

"You got it miss bossy."

She took his hand and he carefully walked her out on the dance floor and they began to dance. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and moved slowly back and forth to make sure that she didn't fall. He held onto one side of her waist and the other was on her back so that she knew he had her if she fell.

"So what are you going to tell him?" Cody asked.

"I don't know; I want to marry him I do but… not right now, it's too soon, too fast."

"So tell him that, he deserves to know."

"What if it hurts him?"

"Then he'll be hurt, if he loves you as much as I know he does he'll get over it and wait for you. You're a girl worth waiting for Payne and if he's smart he'll understand that and never let you go. Besides, I know you; can you imagine how hurt and humiliated he'll be when you don't show up on your wedding day?" Cody said.

She looked up at him ready to show how insulted she was that he would dare assume she would become a runaway bride but as she looked up at him she started to examine her character and realized that he was probably right. She sighed and moved away so he could spin her and then the music started playing faster.

~XxX~

"Wait a minute so you think Payne is cheating on you?" Dean said shocked.

How they got to this subject he couldn't remember off of the top of his head but it started when Roman asked him if Rachel talked about Payne's behavior. He figured women talk a lot about their lives among their friends and Rachel and Payne had become very close but Dean said that Rachel noticed she was acting weird lately. Roman of course already knew that; he picked up on it quickly and decided to ignore it because he thought she was just experiencing cold feet. However, the more he started thinking about it, the sneaking around and avoiding him as much as possible he wondered if there was someone else she may have had an interest in. That and the amount of alcohol in his system at the moment was starting to make his mind come up with a million and one possible things she was doing and a million and one men she was doing it too.

"I don't know what I think I just know she's been acting funny lately and I don't know what I should do or say to her and when I'll be able to say it because I barely see her anymore. I used to be able to catch her between a morning shower and breakfast but now even that is getting hard to do." Roman said.

"Well first," Dean started while grabbing his friend's beer bottle out of his hand,

"You can stop drinking and you two shower together? That is awesome. We should try that." That last part he muttered to himself referring to him and Rachel.

"Look I know for a fact that Payne is crazy about you, don't let this bother you so much and if you know she's getting up earlier than you or coming home later than you then you play her game, wake up earlier than her, catch her off guard, call her, find a way to talk to her. Females are known to be difficult but you don't just have a female you have Payne the alpha male of the female species you shouldn't expect it to be easy to get in her head, it's her job to get into yours… and ours." Dean said trying to joke a little but noticing that the last part was actually true too.

Dean turned around and saw Payne dancing with Cody Rhodes and started coughing on his drink when he took a sip. Of all the times and all the people to be around when Roman was drunk and feeling slightly insecure about his relationship it just had to be Cody Rhodes dancing with Payne and slow dancing! Roman turned to his friend patting him on the back and asking him if he was okay. Dean nodded yes turning around so that Roman wouldn't think to look the same way but it was no use, he'd already looked back to see Cody spinning Payne around and dipping her before the songs tempo began to change. Payne looked like she was going to leave but Cody grabbed a hold of her other hand and said something that made Payne smile then he kissed the back of her hands and she shook her head at him with a smirk before she danced with him again. Roman stood up and Dean put his hand on Roman's chest pushing him back a little and asked him where he was going.

"She's with him, I knew it she is seeing another man." Roman said.

"Okay Roman, one she's just dancing with him you've seen her dance with almost the entire WWE superstars including the Diva's while you were just dating what's wrong with her doing it now?" Dean said trying to get him to think before the alcohol really started taking affect.

"Because she's dancing with him, that's different."

"She's done that before too. Look Roman you don't know that she's cheating on you and to just go over there and start throwing accusations and fists around you'll end up pushing her right out the door." Dean said.

Roman sighed and calmed himself down, he didn't change his mind about going over there but he did decide to walk over there with a calm mind this time. Dean decided to walk with him just in case he did something stupid. Roman tapped on the shoulder of Cody Rhodes and he turned around and Payne's smile faded quickly when she saw Roman's expression. He didn't look violent but he did look pissed and she was only hoping he wasn't thinking what she thought he was thinking.

"Would you look at that Payne you're here too, although I shouldn't be surprised you're a party girl yourself, where's Rachel?" Dean said trying to break the tension.

Payne looked to Dean and said,

"She went back to the hotel she's with Payton."

"So did you just meet him here or did you two meet up behind my back?" Roman said.

Payne crossed her arms insulted and said,

"Behind your back, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh would you look at the time Cody you should go, fast." Dean said quickly.

Payne hadn't noticed that Cody still had his hand on her waist but as soon as Dean told him that he should leave he took the hint and clasped hands with Payne giving her a quick pat on the back and walked away. Payne looked at Roman pissed off and Roman just stared down at her, she shook her head at him and Dean tried to change the subject and lighten the mood by saying,

"So this DJ is really good, he knows how to play the music and match the beats… Maybe you two should dance to it, get close, hug, kiss." the more he talked the more he faded out so that the music could over shadow the stupid comments even he knew he was making.

Dean stood beside Roman, looking the other way; Payne rolled her eyes and walked off. Roman followed Payne and Dean stayed right where he was trying to keep out of the feud. He figured it was a good time to go see Rachel and caught a cab back to the hotel.

~XxX~

"I can't believe you would even have the nerve to say that I went behind your back!" Payne yelled at Roman as she walked into their suite.

"You know I wouldn't think that if you just stayed here once in a while so that we could talk instead of me having to guess when I'm going to see you again." Roman said upset.

"What are you talking about you see me every day and we talked yesterday?"

"What you mean at work where we said hi to each other once and then you left the stadium in a cab without me?" Roman retorted.

Payne scoffed, "You know what I don't need this, there were a million other things you could've thought I was doing but the one thing you thought was that I was cheating on you!"

"You were dancing with Cody Rhodes what the hell was I supposed to think?" Roman said yelling back.

Payne turned around when she grabbed her coat to yell back,

"Oh I don't know that maybe he's my friend and I dance with everybody in the WWE including you! And that Rhodes has a girlfriend right now and they're very serious about each other."

"Oh please you and I both know that Rhodes still wants you and the fact that you're still entertaining him makes me think you want him too."

Payne stopped and looked at him with an open mouth in awe that he could even say something like that to her. She took in a deep breath and shook her head in anger and said,

"You know you're a complete idiot when you're drunk," she turned around to walk out then she stopped and turned around and walked back towards him and placed her hand on his cheek forcing his head down so that their lips could touch and gave him the most passionate kiss she could to prove to him that it was him she wanted. When she pulled away from him she continued,

"Rhodes was fighting for my attention just as much as you were; before I found out he was trying to play me and right after I found out that he was trying to play me. I knew Rhodes liked me but we were friends first that is why I continue that relationship and that is the only reason why. But get it through your head Roman if I wanted Rhodes … I would have him. So what does that tell you since I've obviously got you?"

Roman looked down at her with a blank face and Payne nodded her head looking back at him hurt with tears swelling up to the edge of her eyes and said,

"That's what I thought, why don't you think about that next time you accuse me of cheating?"

Payne turned around and walked out of the suite leaving Roman half-drunk to think about their fight.

**The next Chapter is about Dean and Rachel. Thanks for reading! **


	2. Ch2: How much I want you

Dean knocked on the door to Rachel's hotel suite and waited for an answer, he wanted to take her out for dinner; they hadn't had a good time alone since Payne and Roman started fighting. What did Payne and Roman's problems have to do with them? Nothing really, except for the fact that Rachel was always on babysitting duty and even though he didn't mind having Payton around he really wanted some alone time with Rachel. Rachel answered the door wearing a black shirt that showed a little cleavage but she had a crisscross pattern made from the same black material covering up a little of the exposed skin. To match it she had on some dark blue jeans with black high heeled boots and was in the middle of putting on her silver dangling earrings. She had silver and black eye shadow on to match the outfit and a nice shade of pink lipstick to match. When Dean caught sight of her, he whistled like in the old cartoons when the character saw a hot chick. He walked up to her giving her a kiss on the cheek and told her she looked sexy. Rachel laughed at him then said thank you and asked,

"What are you doing here?"

"Well I came to ask if you'd like to go to dinner but apparently you're already planning to go out tonight. Should I be intimidated?" Dean said joking with the last part.

Rachel put her hand on her hip turning up her lips making that 'sexy pout' face, that's what Dean called it, and shook her head at him. She put the other hand on the door post and said,

"I'm going out with Payne so unless you think I'm a lesbian I'd say you should feel fine."

She turned around and walked into the suite realizing that she didn't offer him a chance to come. She never made an attempt to tell him it was okay because she knew he'd make himself right at home anyway. He walked in closing the door behind him, just as she had concluded, and sat on the couch while she walked into the kitchen and grabbed two beers for him and her. She walked back to the couch handing him a beer and sat down next to him bringing her leg up on the couch and bending it to rest under the other leg hanging off the couch; they clinked beer bottles together before taking a sip.

"So when do you think she's coming by?" Dean said.

"Oh any minute now she called ten minutes ago to tell me she was on her way over, considering that she's right next door I assume she's trying to pry herself from Payton at the moment." Rachel said laughing when she finished taking a sip of her beer.

"That sucks, I was hoping we would have some time…" he leaned over as he talked and kissed her neck,

"To do a little something," he kissed her neck again dipping his head down a little more.

"…Before she got here." He finished.

Rachel laughed and was starting to like the idea until there was a knock on the door so she pushed him up and said,

"Oh, that's probably her. I have to go."

"Why, you can't just say you forgot you made other plans with me?" Dean said pouting like a child.

"No, she's my best friend I can't lie to my best friend." Rachel whispered to him as she got up and walked across the couch.

Dean said,

"Of course you can I do it all the time."

"You're the WWE's Untied States Champion and part of the ruthless hounds of justice, The Shield, yet you can't handle me going out to the club with my best friend? I see why they call wrestling fake."

Dean dropped his jaw and then smiled at her while putting his hand to heart and pretending that she had just shot him the chest. He leaned back against the couch like he was dead which made Rachel laugh and roll her eyes as she answered the door. Payne was standing before her friends now dressed up in her cow girl fashion only this time with a baby blue sleeveless shirt that may have shrunk a little when she washed it because it was almost above her belly button and part of the scar on her hip flexor was showing from when she had surgery. She had light blue jeans on that looked like they had been bleached and brown boots. Her hair had some volume to it and the brown curls at the end of her straight hair spilled over her shoulders. She had little diamond studs in with a gold 'wonder woman' style bracelet on her left wrist with a smoky eye shadow color for her make up. It was actually the first time Rachel had seen Payne with a lip gloss color other than her usual safe pink color when she didn't feel like putting on lipstick. Payne gave her a smile and Rachel said that she was ready to go; she started to reach behind the chair for her purse when Payne stopped her and said,

"Actually, I don't think I can do it today."

"What? Why not?" Rachel said a little disappointed.

"I just want to hang out with Payton today I was thinking about taking him out for a drive and maybe walk on the side walk by the beach. I'm sorry, rain check?"

Rachel smiled at her best friend and said,

"Of course."

She wrapped her arms around her friend and told her to have fun with her son and to give him two kisses one on each cheek for her. Payne laughed and shook her head at Rachel, telling her she would do it, then said bye while also waving to Dean. Rachel closed the door behind Payne after she walked off and sighed putting her hands on her waist. The reason Payne backed out was because of Payton; she wanted to spend time with him but also because she was aware that she was getting in the way of Dean and Rachel's time together. She had seen the way they looked at each other last night when they were at Main Event. She realized that her avoiding Roman was getting in the way of her best friends love life and she didn't want to do it anymore, plus she liked the idea of spending some alone time with her son, she knew she needed it. Dean looked back at Rachel with a smile but Rachel looked a little bit bummed

as she stood by the door with her hands on her hips looking down at the floor.

"Are you okay?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I just feel like I got all dressed up for nothing." Rachel said walking over and sitting on the other side of Dean since he was now occupying where she was originally sitting.

Dean looked at her then let his eye shift towards the TV as he said,

"Well… not for nothing."

Rachel looked up at him and gave him a confused look, Dean smiled at her and grabbed her hand and gave her a kiss before saying,

"We could still always go to dinner."

Rachel tilted her head to the side with a smile and twitched her nose towards him. He loved it when she twitched her nose; he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek while asking her what she wanted to do. He moved back and looked at her and she said 'let's do it' while standing up and grabbing her purse. Dean stood up right behind her as she walked out he closed the door and they hailed a cab to them since they both just drank a beer. They ended up going to a nice Brazilian restaurant where neither one could pronounce the name of it. They were seated almost immediately and while they looked over the menu they talked a little bit about what they thought was going on between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. Dean bet that Roman was going to kick Brock's ass and that Sunday would be completely sold out when they have their cage match but Rachel thought otherwise. As much as she enjoyed Roman's wrestling, she was sure someone was going out of that cage with a broken limb and it wasn't going to be Brock Lesnar. The waiter came over and took their orders then left them to continue the conversation they were having.

"So you're telling me after every match you've seen Roman win that you think Brock Lesnar stands a chance?" Dean said astonished.

"All I'm saying is that maybe Roman is biting off a little more than he can chew. Not unless the rest of the Shield members plan on breaking into the cage and helping him out." Rachel said trying to squeeze some information out of him using her seductive voice.

Dean laughed at her waving his forefinger at her while saying,

"Oh, nice try missy but if me or Seth interfere Roman loses the match and even though, sometimes we don't care as long as we pulverize our opponent, Roman wants to prove that he is unstoppable. I mean come on we took on Mark Henry and we survived mainly because of Roman."

"Ah ha so you admit it! Roman is the back bone of the Shield and you're just the cheerleaders." Rachel said teasing.

"We are not cheerleaders and I won't deny that Roman has been a huge factor in most of the Shield's wins but me and Seth can hold our own just fine but we always have each other's backs. The Shield isn't a single wrestler we come in threes and we destroy everyone. Which is why we don't go out on our own all the time, 'the hound of justice' doesn't sound as intimidating as 'the hounds of justice'."

Rachel laughed admiring the devotion they had to each other, it was easy for her and the rest of the WWE to see that the Shield members were more than just partners they were brothers. Just like she considered Payne a sister to her, she understood their close bond. Their food came out and they continued to talk for a while even during their desert. Rachel allowed him to try her lava cake while Dean shared his strawberry cheesecake with her. She didn't like his cheesecake as much as he liked her lava cake. It was fine with him he enjoyed his desert just as she did and then shortly after they headed back to the hotel. He walked her up to the door and Rachel walked in and turned around putting her hand on the post of the door and smiled at him.

"I had a nice time Dean."

"I'm glad; a girl like you deserves to be spoiled." He said grabbing the hand that was on her waist and kissing the back of it.

Rachel blushed with a laugh and flicked her forefinger back and forth signaling him to come closer to her. He took a step forward and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips slowly, sensuously and passionately. Dean pulled his head back taking in a breath admitting that her kisses drove him crazy. Rachel laughed at his confession and let her arms release his neck and her hands grabbed on his shoulders and squeezed them a little bit. Dean didn't release his arms from around her waist and he held her incredibly close to his body. Rachel shook her head at him knowing exactly what he wanted from her and she said no immediately. Dean pouted and pursued her a little more and walked forward with her in his arms. Rachel closed the door when he had her in the suite and then she kissed him. He put her down so that he could cup the side of her cheeks and make the kiss deeper. She pulled away from him with a smile and scrunched up her nose as if she smelled something bad. He knew what that gesture meant though and it meant that she was trying very hard to resist sleeping with him. She originally told him that she wanted to wait a little bit until they had time to really get to know each other and after a month Dean was hoping to try his luck but Rachel couldn't do it. She placed her hands on his shoulders and gave him a smile while apologizing. Dean rubbed the back of his head scratching it a little while telling her she was perfectly entitled to refuse.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked.

"Yeah I'll be fine but seriously you've got to work on not kissing me like that, you'd set any man off with those lips. You're very hard for me to resist." Dean said bringing his forehead to hers.

Rachel laughed and said,

"You're one to talk, imagine how hard it is for me to resist you and your arms," she started while letting her finger tips and palms touch and slide to each part of him she named

"…your shoulders, your lips. I'm especially fond of that thing you do with your tongue when you shake your head no." she finished.

Dean said,

"Oh you mean this."

Making the same gesture that she was referring to, he usually did it in the ring when he asked a rhetorical question and then answered himself. Like when he asked the audience if there was anyone better than the Shield and then audience goes in an uproar and Dean shakes his head no with his tongue pushing against the back of the bottom row of his teeth. She couldn't explain why she liked that but for some reason to her it was very sexy. She would claim the fact that it was weird; there weren't a lot of weird things she liked so she figured she could own that one. It was time for them to say good night and so Dean took advantage of the moment for one final kiss and cupped her cheek again while having his thumb pressed up against her cheek bone; he leaned towards her and kissed her slowly drawing in every breath she had and wrapping his arms around her in a strong safe hug making her want to melt right where he stood. After releasing her, he said goodnight and Rachel let out a little giggle telling him goodnight as well. After she closed the door behind him, she leaned against it catching her breath and pulling her hair behind her head understanding how much he wanted her, she couldn't deny that she wanted him too.

**So obviously I'm alternating between Rachel and Dean's relationship and Payne and Roman's relationship until I can get them into one whole chapter together I'm just trying to give the story some foundation before I do that. So anyway Payne and Roman are next.**


	3. Ch3: Making up is the best part

**Sorry it's taken me a while to update schools about to start again so I've been depressed to say the least. Just kidding but I'm going to try and update a little faster.**

Payne and Rachel went to the gym before Roman, Seth and Dean had a chance to meet up. Payne was still avoiding him, even though she wasn't upset about him thinking that she'd cheat on him anymore; she just didn't know what to say to him next. Breaking the news to Roman that she didn't think getting married right now was a good idea was harder and scarier than she thought, especially since she loved him and did want to marry him; it was just that everything was moving along to fast for her to catch up. Roman had to focus on his match with Brock Lesnar too; she couldn't just say something like that to him and make him take his eye off the prize. Though she wouldn't admit it to anybody else, including Roman, she believed there was a possibility that he could get hurt and she didn't want to do anything to distract him. Rachel sat on the side of the mat in a cold fold out chair with Payton bouncing on her lap. Payne was sparing with Natalya on the mat with some old MMA moves she used to use when she was a UFC fighter. Every time Payne hit Natalya in the stomach or the leg Payton would giggle. Rachel kissed him on the cheek while telling him that wasn't nice as if he really understood what she was telling him. Payton saw Payne put Natalya in a submission move again and giggled at her. Natalya tapped out and Payne stood up whipping her head back with her hair following the motion and settling on her back. She and Natalya shook hands and Natalya moved out of the way so that JoJo and Kaitlyn could practice together. Payne walked over to where Rachel was picking up her towel and her water bottle taking a sip of the water first and then catching her breath while she wiped herself off.

"I swear there is no denying this kid is yours Payne." Rachel said laughing while she bounced Payton on her knee.

Payne smiled looking at Rachel and said,

"What makes you say that, he looks just like Roman?"

"Yeah, but every time he sees you hit somebody he giggles."

Payne smiled while saying,

"Really?" excitedly.

She pinched Rachel making Rachel say ouch and Payton began to giggle.

"Oh, you're right! That's my boy." Payne said joking.

Rachel shook her head while rubbing her arm where Payne had pinched her.

"I never said use me as a test dummy." Rachel retorted.

"Well Natalya already walked away." Payne said being sarcastic but saying it with a straight face as if she really meant it.

Rachel stuck her tongue out at Payne and Payne scrunched her nose up and gave her a smile. Payne wrapped her arms around Rachel's neck making sure not to crush Payton, who she was still holding, and kissed her on the cheek jokingly apologizing,

"I'm so, so sorry, you know I love you so much." Payne said playfully.

Rachel tried leaning her head away while laughing and pushed Payne off of her saying,

"Stop that, I love you too but you're going to make people wonder."

Payne laughed at her standing up straight and trying to recover from the fact that their playful conversation as friends sounded like they were together. She shook her head and Rachel pointed a finger at her telling her it was her fault because she started it. Payne leaned against the counter to the juice bar taking another sip of her water and turning to watch Kaitlyn and JoJo fight. Payne sighed as a familiar voice from behind her and Rachel said,

"Oh so that's why you weren't at your apartment."

Payne and Rachel both turned around noticing Dean, Roman and Seth walking up into the gym in their work out clothes. Dean walked over to Rachel immediately pressing his lips against her cheek and greeting her with a smile. Roman looked at Payne and gave her a faint smile while he wondered if it was safe to talk to her again after embarrassing himself in front of her the other night. Payne smiled back and looked to Seth who started bombing her and Rachel out,

"Don't think we didn't see your little display of affection earlier missy, you should be ashamed of yourselves, in front of the child too." Seth said.

Payne took another sip of her water before letting out a little giggle and saying,

"What's wrong Seth you didn't get in your daily temper-tantrum? I thought you were going to do that tonight when you lose your match against my man Rob Van Dam."

She did the RVD motion with her thumbs as she said his name and began to laugh when Seth shook his head squinting his eyes towards her then turning to Roman and saying,

"You know I change my mind, mother of your kid or not I don't like your fiancé anymore."

Payne laughed and walked over to Seth wrapping her arm around his neck and rubbing his hair to mess it up. Seth pulled himself out of the head lock then grabbed her arm twisting her around; Payne countered turning back the other way and circling around Seth pulling his arm into a chicken wing fashion. Seth could've kept fighting in reality and Payne knew that but Seth cried mercy anyway and Payne let him go claiming that she was stronger than Seth and could beat him any time. Dean rolled his eyes at Payne scoffing; Payne put her hands on her hips and challenged Dean as a joke.

"I hope you'll love him unconditionally Rachel because his face is about to be rearranged." Payne said.

"Oh so you think." Dean said with a smug smile.

Rachel looked at Payne with raised eyebrows and a smile then looked back at Dean and said,

"You might want to believe her I've seen her do that before, she used to be a UFC fighter." Rachel said taking Payne's side.

Dean looked at her with an astonished smile and said,

"You're not supposed to take her side, you're my girlfriend."

"Yeah but she's like my sister, plus she's my boss I get paid to watch her kid if I don't take her side I'm losing like fifty bucks an hour."

"You pay her fifty bucks an hour?" Dean said turning to Payne surprised.

Payne's smile faded as she looked at him surprised and almost embarrassed as she said,

"Yeah why, should I give her more? Rachel why didn't you tell me it was too little?"

Rachel stood up trying to defend herself that what she was getting paid was absolutely fine. She knew how Payne got and if somebody said that she was doing too little she had to make sure she was doing much more. Rachel turned to Dean mouthing the words 'thanks a lot' kind of upset at him for saying that to her. Payne was busy trying to find out how much more she should pay Rachel while Rachel tried to convince her friend that she was already paying her enough. Dean looked at Roman and said,

"Did you know she does this?"

"Not at all." Roman said.

He walked over to Payne who was still negotiating with Rachel on her pay; Rachel was happy that Roman came over and grabbed Payne's attention. Payne swore they would talk about it later but Rachel knew Payne well enough to know that she wouldn't remember unless she was reminded and that was one thing she wasn't going to do. Roman asked Payne if they could talk and Payne tried to joke by saying,

"Well I think we're doing that right now."

"You know what I mean."

Payne smiled at him and nodded; Roman grabbed her hand and walked her to the back entrance where the locker rooms where, as they walked away Payne looked back at Rachel worried and her heart racing. Rachel mouthed words to her that she made out to be 'talk to him, everything will be okay.' As much as she liked to believe that, she still wasn't going to tell him anything before his match with Brock for now she was going to try and make him believe it was just a phase and nothing else. Roman had her by the entrance of the locker rooms and looked down in her face and apologized to her for his stupid actions the other night. Payne looked at him surprised and then laughed and said,

"Oh you didn't have to bring me back here to tell me that and you didn't have to apologize, I'm pretty sure we both said something pretty stupid plus it wasn't your fault I was acting funny."

"Are you sure, you seem very… okay with this."

"Yes, I am very okay with this. I was hurt by what you said yes but when I thought about it I can understand why you would think that I would cheat on you based on the way I was acting. I'm sorry." Payne said wrapping her arms around Roman and moving closer to his body to give him a hug.

"Then why were you acting so strange? Why are you always avoiding me and more importantly if you're over it why did you leave without me this morning?" Roman said still looking down at her

Payne looked up at him then stepped back and looked around to see if anybody else was around. Payne sighed and said,

"Because Natalya called and wanted to spar with me because no one was on time this morning, besides… I've just been thinking about… being a mother. Everything's changed so much, I have to be careful what I do and what I say and then everything that's going on in the WWE it's all so over whelming and I just need some big distractions."

"Did you know you talk in your sleep?" Roman said.

Payne looked up at him surprised; she could only hope that if that was true she didn't say anything about how she felt about getting married. She let out a breath and looked the other way and said,

"No I didn't know that."

"You talk about Payton a lot, like you're going to lose him or like someone's going to take him away from you." Roman's voice became softer for a second.

Payne looked up at him and stepped forward putting her hands on his chest with tears building up to the edge of her eyes. She smiled laughing a little as she shook her head at him and said,

"No, no I would never think that you'd take him away from me. Don't ever think that, I just get a little paranoid sometimes you know how I can be. I just don't want Payton to grow up in a dysfunctional lifestyle like I did. He won't have any siblings to play with and his kids won't have any aunts or uncles like I do."

"That's not your fault, you know that." Roman said wiping the tears that were forming by her eyes.

Payne just laughed at him and wiped the rest away herself. Roman tilted her head up to look at him, not being able to resist the way she looked even when she cried, he kissed her. It was first slow then a rough kiss; Payne wrapped her hand around his wrist as he walked her back against the other wall with his hand still on her cheek and continued to kiss her rough and passionately with a fire that could never be put out. Payne tried to pull away for some air and giggled to herself telling him that they were in a public place. Roman said that they could ditch Seth and Dean and Rachel could bring Payton back to their suite in a few hours. Payne looked at him laughing at the idea but told him that they needed him at the gym and that's why he was there. As Payne was talking to him she didn't realize that he was walking her back into the male locker room where the showers were. He picked her up lifting her into one of the showers and closed the shower screen behind him. Payne laughed silently and Roman said,

"What?" before he kissed her again.

Payne was removing his sweat shirt to reveal a black tank top that he always wore when working out.

"I don't think we should be doing this."

Even if that was true there was no force in her or Roman that was going to stop them at that point.

"You're the one that didn't want to go back to the suite."

"So sue me." Payne said sarcastically.

Roman picked her up and pressed her against the wall and she bent her head down to kiss him. She grabbed his hair pulling it behind his shoulders even though she loved his hair she didn't want it getting in the way when she kissed him. They started to hear footsteps coming into the locker room and tried to cover by turning on the water to the shower. Both Payne and Roman got wet though and she looked at him thinking how were they going to explain that when they got out. She whispered in his hear,

"We should've went back to the suite."

Roman looked up at her and tried to laugh silently but he dipped his head down to kiss her neck instead. Payne covered her mouth trying not to make a sound, she knew they weren't supposed to be doing that but seriously, who was going to stop them?


End file.
